I know we need to take the person with the most obtainable upside. I really hope that at least 2 of the 3 are 6’8” or better with a durable frames.
Garuba dropped a hot 1 point and 1 rebound in his first finals game that saw his team go town to Pau Gasols team. NBA legend Corey Higgins https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/higgico01.html dropped 25 points
He had a huge 16pts & 14rebounds in the clinching game of the semifinals - the youngest player to record a double double in playoff history. Not a huge fan - he's so noticibly short and so so raw, but generally hes played pretty well recently. Best case upside seems to be Manimal with a functional-but-mediocre 3pt shot. Whoever eventually drafts him isnt going to be expecting a finished, polished product. And hes never going to be a guy you run the offense through. Hes a high energy / offensive rebound putback / defensive disruption type guy.
With all that said he makes the rotation and adds to the talent of our team. I would welcome him as part of a successful draft if we are lucky enough to get him. Porter, Tate, Martin, him, & Wood would blend nicely, IMO.
Butler is falling. If the med isn't an issue, he's a very good player and leader and winner who can take the ball up court to win a playoff series.
Tre Mann looks like a potential selection to me. I like him because he does the most important aspect of the game at a tremendous level and the things he needs to improve aren't that hard to improve. Dude can hit it from deep with easy. Off the bounce or catch and shoot. Plus he is getting better at taking it too the paint. Reminds me some of Booker. I know he will never be lockdown D but he can be ok.
Aaron Henry, JT Thor, John Petty, and Charles Bassey did not play in the combine scrimmages. Maybe they got promises from teams? Really interested in Thor and Bassey as potential late 1st centers. Legit sized wing + center are my hopes for 23rd and 24th pick. Trey Murphy III, Kessler Edwards, Ziaire Williams come to mind. Roko Prkacin? Josh Primo is also interesting. Youngest or second youngest player in the draft. Decent height already at 6'6, productive and efficient on a good Alabama team. He'll likely chill in the G-League for a bit if drafted, but it seems like the G-League has been doing a better job at developing talent as of late.
Jared Butler has been cleared. I doubt he makes it to 23 but at least he will push another player down 1 slot.
To be fair, Higgins has evolved into a great player. He might be the best SF in the EuroLeague, and would be a very solid rotation piece on a championship contender in the NBA.
Not all great Euroleague players have NBA ambitions (Llull) - some prefer to be a big fish in a small pond. Also have to take the city of Barcelona into consideration - just a fantastic place to live in and most NBA cities can't compare with that (as evidenced by Mirotic's departure back to Barcelona).
That's a reasonable explanation ( especially Barcelona a a place to live). My only thing would be that Llull obviously never wanted to come) and Mirotic was not all that surprising. Higgins doesn't exactly fit into the same category as those two started out overseas and America was never home. That said I appreciate the perspective
The later you pick in the draft, the more question marks any player has. However, there will be some very talented potential type players for when the Rockets pick with their later 1st round picks. Best of all is they get to pick one right after the other......... So, they can kind of hedge their bets. Someone will fall, hopefully it will be guys the Rockets had high on their list. As any knowledgeable fan knows, each team has their own ranking of talent for the NBA draft. Just because we see someone fall does not mean, that that player was highly sought after by another particular team (Media hype / push by fake information by teams trying to hype up lesser talents). Many times guys whom the media touted as reaches by teams, end up being the secretly coveted players (which the media was in the dark). Yet regardless, every year there are guys who go in the 2nd round that end up having significant roles in teams for many years. The inexact science that is the NBA draft.
I think he might make it to the Rockets, despite having almost every bit the "intangibles" of Jalen Suggs. Butler is a true winner.. If Thor and Trey Murphy and maybe Garuba are gone i would be thrilled to get Butler.
Those are both poor comparisons because Garubas main skill that is touted is his defense, Motrezl and Faried are all offense and hustle type guys who get torched on D due to their lack of lateral quickness, poor defensive footwork, bad instincts He technically should be closer to Moute than Faried or Harrell Harrell also has a very polished post game which Garuba is a universe away from
I wonder if Juhann Begarin sneaks into the 1st, that dudes upside is a lot for him to fall to the 2nd.
